Discussions
by Charmaine
Summary: Elladan and Elrohir make their decision to live as elves and discuss Arwen's choice


This is the prequel to my other story, The Choice of the Twins, where Elladan and Elrohir tell Elrond of their decision to live as elves instead of men.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to Tolkien.

This is for Stardust who asked for more chapters, thank you. I might do a sequel later on but I'm not sure yet.

"Elladan you wouldn't leave me by myself would you?" Elrohir spoke quietly as Elladan worked up the fire at their campsite but he could still hear him.

"What do you mean?" Elladan turned to face his brother and saw that something was obviously bothering him.

"Well Arwen has chosen to live as a mortal and marry Estel and I was thinking that we will have to choose how we live as well." Elrohir explained and suddenly Elladan understood. 

His brother feared to be left alone as it seemed everyone was leaving. Their mother had left many years past, everyone knew that Elrond would soon be leaving for Valinor to join her and now Arwen had declared that she would forsake the immortal life of their people to wed Aragorn, their foster brother.

"Of course I will not leave you. We are twins are we not?" Elladan said with a smile, trying to comfort his younger twin.

"Yes but Ada had a twin and he chose to be a mortal and live as a King." Elrohir said gloomily.

"And you think I want to be a king?" Elladan asked with an arched eyebrow trying to tease his brother out of his misery.

"Well you have always gotten along well with the Dunedain and you wanted lots of power when we were younger." Elrohir stated suddenly unable to meet his brother's eyes as he did so.

"Elrohir that was centuries ago! I was barely out of childhood, and besides I do not think Aragorn would appreciate me trying to take his crown." Elladan exclaimed with a laugh. Hearing the amusement in his twin's voice Elrohir lifted his face to look at his brother and saw him looking down at him with a fondly frustrated expression.

"I guess not." Elrohir mumbled, suddenly feeling like an idiot for admitting his fears.

"Dear brother. Did we not always promise to stay together when we were little?" Elladan asked still trying to convince his brother.

"Yes we did." Elrohir brightened a little as it seemed to sink in that his brother had no intention of leaving him alone.

"And as for Ada and his twin, they were different. We are much closer than they. Has Ada not always said that we are much closer than any brothers he has ever seen?" Elladan continued to make his point.

"Yes he did. I am sorry Ladan, I was being an idiot." Elrohir apologised for his foolishness.

"You were but I am quite used to it now so I forgive you." Elladan joked and Elrohir pushed him for the remark and suddenly they were tussling on the ground, rolling all over the place and making plenty of noise. It was lucky they were nowhere near the orcs they hunted or they would have been in trouble.

"Are we going to stay as elves?" Elrohir asked once again, after they had finished wrestling and were eating their dinner.

"Well I have no wish to be a man, do you?" Elladan answered serious for once.

"No, they are often dirty and they get wrinkled when they age." Elrohir scrunched up his face at the thought and his brother couldn't help but laugh.

"And if we chose to become mortal we would never see Ada or Amme again. And then who would keep them amused as immortals in the Blessed Lands?" Elladan said, giving the main reason why he did not wish to become a mortal.

"It would break Ada's heart if we were to leave him like Arwen. He is already mourning her though she has not gone yet and may not if events do not go our way." Elrohir, ever the more sensitive of the two pointed out, and they both sat in silence for a while contemplating their lives without their beloved sister. 

Elrohir was quite right, their father was deeply grieved over her choice and the brothers were loath to add any further grief to his heart. The twins were very close to their father and could not imagine life without him. They were also grieved by Arwen's choice yet it was not such a blow to them as it was to their father who had already lost too many in his lifespan.

"Do you think she will change when she becomes mortal?" Elrohir asked curiously.

"I don't know, I don't think so except she will die after a long time." Elladan answered and the pair felt their hearts clench at the thought. So far the implications of their sister's choice had not made itself real but they were beginning to understand.

"I do not want her to die. Or Estel." Elrohir said with a tremble in his voice and when Elladan looked up to him he could see his identical pair of grey eyes filled with tears.

"Neither do I Rohir, but there is nothing we can do about it." Elladan said sadly wishing it wasn't true. He moved over to his brother and gathered him into his arms for a hug, trying to comfort him as best he could while reigning in his own emotions. It had always been this way with Elladan trying to be the stronger one and help his brother.

"They should be allowed to travel to Valinor with us. Why could they not turn Estel into an elf?" Elrohir sobbed and Elladan felt his own tears begin to flow at his brother's heartfelt plea to the Valar.

They stayed wrapped around each other crying into their clothes until finally they had no tears left to cry.

"Perhaps we could stay." Elladan suggested after a while.

"What do you mean? Live as mortals?" Elrohir asked confused.

"No we already decided we are staying as elves but who says we have to leave for Valinor when father does?" Elladan said starting to get excited as he thought of a plan.

"You mean we should stay and go on a later ship?"

"Exactly we can stay in Middle Earth and watch over Arwen and Aragorn. You know how he likes to get into trouble." Elladan said with a grin as he recalled the mischief Estel had gotten up to when he was younger, though admittedly often it was with their help.

"Yes without us he would surely run the Kingdom of Gondor into the ground." The two started laughing once again as they imagined the reaction when they told Aragorn that they would be staying in Middle Earth to keep an eye on him as they did not believe he could adequately fulfil the role of a leader of men without their help.

"Arwen will be most pleased." It would no doubt ease Arwen's own grief at the parting of her father if some of her family remained behind even if only for a while.

"Especially when we start teaching her children to play pranks." Elladan added and the pair continued to joke and laugh for the rest of the night, their minds now at ease with the path their lives would be taking.


End file.
